MISSION

Empowering young people to champion and create local pathways for sustainable development

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The Local Pathways Fellowship seeks to provide young leaders with the tools, a platform and a guiding framework for action, and connect them with leading urban development experts and practitioners.

The fellows will take on a journey throughout which they will explore pathways for "localizing" the globally adopted goals and targets, exchange knowledge and ideas, and work to engage local stakeholders in a dialogue around strategies and plans their city needs to build a better future for its citizens.

OBJECTIVES

  • Empower young people to mobilize citizens' support for the 2030 Agenda and secure local commitment to prioritize implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  • Provide young people with the means to engage local stakeholders in dialogue and collaboration for sustainable development

  • Equip young people with the tools and resources to advance problem solving for sustainable development at the local level

  • Train a young generation of urban sustainability leaders and SDG advocates by educating them about the process of “localizing” the SDGs

PROGRAM METHOD

The core component of the Fellowship is a practically-oriented training program, which is designed to enable young fellows to understand the process of “localizing” SDG 11 in the cities they represent and to guide them through the development of a project. This is done through:

  • The Sustainable Cities Online Course which has been developed through a partnership between the SDG Academy and the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS). This course examines how urban sustainability can be delivered with increasing productivity and reduced inequality; provision of universal basic services and infrastructure; protection of the urban environments; and other solutions and investments, both speculative and in action around the world.Learners will emerge from the course understanding how governments, private stakeholders and other actors can improve urban development to heed the call of SDG 11.

  • Monthly webinars with experts who share their insight into various aspects of the industry

  • A series of monthly assignments, which guides fellows through the development of a project that proposes a solution to the challenges in their cities. The first half of the fellowship is focused on localized research and the second half on idea generation and the design process of solutions.

  • A peer-to-peer network of young urban leaders and innovators from over 75 cities across the globe

  • Visibility opportunities as top candidates can be selected to participate in international conferences and events such as the International Conference on Sustainable Development, Vatican Youth Symposium, or the World Urban Forum etc. or recommended for awards such as the Local Project Challenge by Center for Sustainable Urban Development at Columbia University to or Habitat's Youth Advisory Body.